Strangers in Time

Charlie and Molly board the bus. A conductor interrogates them about their late-night excursion, but Charlie makes up a believable story. They get off at their stop, and Molly follows Charlie to the darkened Ministry of Food building, where no one answers the door. Molly surmises that her father has left for home already. 

Charlie thinks Molly sounds educated, so he tells her about the nearby Book Keep. Charlie spots an unlocked bike and offers to pedal Molly home on it, since there aren’t any more buses for the night. He promises to bring the bike back, since Molly is hesitant about stealing. Charlie cycles to Molly’s house with her sitting on the handlebars. He refuses to take the half-crown payment and rides away. Molly enters her house and sees that her father still isn’t home.

Charlie and Gran share a meager meal, and Gran complains that the shops haven’t restocked their rations. The electricity briefly goes off, since it’s rationed, and Gran goes on a tirade against the Ministry of Food. She believes they have secret hordes of fresh food that they refuse to dole out, leaving people to eat low-quality powdered alternatives. Charlie tells Gran he met a girl whose dad works at the Ministry, though he claims he met Molly on the way to school.

After their meal, Gran and Charlie sit in the front room. Gran hopes the shipment of coal will arrive soon, since she expects winter to be frigid. Charlie produces two lumps of coal that he stole, which he says fell off a truck. He also shows Gran the blank journal, claiming he found it in an alley. He thinks it’s a waste of time to write in it, so he plans to sell it. He recalls how he’d been in Molly’s neighborhood to steal from wealthy people but struck out. He falls asleep happy as the rain begins, since the Germans won’t fly in such weather.

Gran leaves for work, and Charlie gets up a few hours later. He leaves, taking his book, but two local boys, Lonzo and Eddie, stop him a few blocks away. Lonzo and Eddie moved between foster families and orphanages together and now live in an abandoned building. 

Lonzo jokes about Charlie’s obvious failure to get money from St. Savior’s, since he knew the door was double-locked. Charlie lies that he got into the school and used the money to buy his journal. Lonzo mocks Charlie’s silly purchase, but Eddie knows people need paper. Charlie runs away as Lonzo starts to yell that he knows what Charlie really did after leaving St. Savior’s.

Charlie walks through the city and tries not to think about Lonzo’s words. He helps a canteen hand out food in exchange for a meal. A constable stops Charlie and others from progressing down a street as a fire engine approaches. An unhoused man says the commotion is likely for an unexploded bomb—he helped excavate bombs when he was in the Royal Engineers. The man asks about Charlie’s book, and upon hearing that Charlie wants to sell it, directs Charlie to a nearby solicitor’s office, where they will appreciate the paper.

Charlie cleans himself up before knocking on King & Chauncey Solicitors’ door. An assistant answers the door, and Charlie tells her about his paper for sale. She invites him into the lush office and interrogates Charlie about where he got the book. He asserts that he didn’t steal it.

Charlie asks for £2, which he’ll spend on Gran, some new clothes, and the veteran who gave him directions. She declares she’ll give Charlie £5, and she leaves to retrieve the money. Charlie looks over the book again, but this time, something about the blank pages stirs him, and he runs out of the office with the book.

Molly and Mrs. Pride sit together in the kitchen. Molly’s father hasn’t returned all week, and although Mrs. Pride pretends ignorance, Molly senses that she is hiding something. She demands to visit her mother, but Mrs. Pride asserts that travelling to Cornwall is impossible. Molly eats her small breakfast and wonders whether Charlie has enough to eat or if he has any family. She decides to make use of the sunny day to visit Covent Garden.

Molly asks for directions to The Book Keep, but no one knows where it is. She notices a car of two men idling nearby, but they speed off when she looks at them. She wonders if she’s being followed or if she’s just anxious about her family. 

Molly remembers Charlie saying The Book Keep was near St. Savior’s, so she asks for directions to the school. On her way to St. Savior’s, Molly spots The Book Keep down an alley. She peers through the window and is taken aback by the store’s chaos. With anticipation, Molly enters the store.

Inside, Molly meets Ignatius and asks if he knows Charlie, since she wants to give him the compensation he’s owed. Ignatius asks Molly about her family, and she lies that she lives with both parents. Ignatius speaks about his late wife Imogen and her love of books; although it isn’t to his taste, Ignatius keeps the store arranged in the eclectic manner Imogen preferred. 

Ignatius writes down Charlie’s address, and Molly recognizes the heavily bombed neighborhood. Molly browses the store, and when she picks up Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Ignatius offers Molly the book as a gift. Imogen read every book in the store and told Ignatius about them, which is why he knows so much. As Molly departs, she admits that she wants to offer Charlie her friendship. Ignatius thinks Molly could use a friend, too, and says he’ll always be around should the children need him.

Charlie and Gran have a full meal at a church hall. At home, Gran reveals that her wages were cut in half, so they’ll have to find somewhere else to live. She sends Charlie to bed, not wanting to burden him with the logistics. 

Later, Charlie sneaks out so he can ask Molly for the half-crown. Lonzo and Eddie corner Charlie, and Lonzo pulls out a knife. The boys saw Charlie return money to a bookstore, so they want him to help steal the money back. Lonzo threatens to hurt Charlie, Gran, and Ignatius, so Charlie agrees to go along.

Eddie unlocks the door of The Book Keep with his lockpick, but the door doesn’t budge. Frustrated, Lonzo breaks through the door, but before they can enter, a constable hears the noise and chases the boys, which wakes Ignatius. Charlie and Lonzo run across the street, but an oncoming truck hits and kills Eddie and the constable. Charlie tries to go back for Eddie, but Lonzo forces him to keep running. Charlie returns home and stays awake all night. He briefly falls asleep the next morning before a knock wakes him.

Molly stands at Charlie’s door. She cleans Charlie’s cut and offers to take him for a picnic. In Hyde Park, the two have a meal of sausages, tinned fish, and fruit. Molly discusses the park’s statues and notices camouflaged anti-aircraft guns. While she’s lost in thought, a man takes her picture. She tries to confront him, but he runs into a crowd. 

Molly offers Charlie the half-crown, and Charlie starts tearing up, since he thinks he’s not worthy of any money. He waits in a taxi queue with her, and Molly picks up a discarded newspaper and reads about Eddie and the constable’s deaths. The truck driver described the other two boys to the police, and Molly hopes the police will catch them soon. Charlie sees Molly off and walks home miserably.

At night, Charlie visits his old school, remembering his first day there. His mother walked him over and encouraged him to be open to the new environment. In class, Charlie heard the bombs, but the warning sirens came too late for the students to get to a shelter. He doesn’t remember getting hit, but he remembers waking up under the rubble. 

Rescuers pulled Charlie from the wreckage and sent him to the hospital, where two men informed Charlie that his mother had died. Instead of going to a shelter, she had run back to the school to get Charlie. He’s had an ever-present anxiety since. He ended up at a different school, but he was so anxious that he dropped out.

The next day, Charlie helps a man clean his shed for two shillings and an apple. Charlie lies to Gran about where he got the money, claiming a man was feeling generous. When Charlie tries to sneak out later that night, Lonzo stops him at the fire escape.

Lonzo learned about Eddie’s death in the newspaper. People know Lonzo and Eddie were friends, so he thinks the police will find him soon. Charlie offers to get Lonzo Molly’s half-crown, but Lonzo doesn’t want Charlie’s charity. Though he isn’t old enough, Lonzo wants to join the army. He says a final goodbye to Charlie and runs off. 

Charlie continues through the city. He and a few other boys help a man shovel dead rats, but the toxic fumigant makes them all sick. Charlie stands by the Thames and thinks about the war’s casualties. He wonders about his own future and whether he’ll die by bomb or hanging.

When Molly wakes up, she checks the house for her father but finds nothing. Mrs. Pride only offers more excuses but then finally tells the truth. Mrs. Wakefield has been in Cornwall for four years after she was raped in a bomb shelter. Molly’s mother and father were separated in the chaos, and Mr. Wakefield found his wife later in a small room where she’d been attacked by a group of men. He tried to make a police report, but the constable wouldn’t follow up. He then took the case to Scotland Yard, but no one helped him. Molly’s mother became extremely nervous and agitated.

One day, she started a small fire on the stove, and when Mr. Wakefield rushed to put it out, Mrs. Wakefield started raging and hitting him and the cook, Mrs. Brand. Her behavior grew more erratic and violent, especially around men. She even accused the driver, Mr. John, of trying to kidnap her. Mr. Wakefield checked his wife into the psychiatric hospital and visited her as often as he could. Mrs. Pride then finally admits that Mr. Wakefield is gone.

Mrs. Pride says she doesn’t know if Mr. Wakefield is still alive, since the last time she saw him, six months ago, he left the house, saying he’d be away indefinitely, leaving only a note for Molly. Molly questions why Mrs. Pride never went to the police, but Mrs. Pride claims it would’ve been a waste of time, and she also worried the police would kick her out of the house. 

Mrs. Pride explains that Molly’s father changed after her mother’s attack. He grew disillusioned with England because his countrymen abandoned him in his time of need. Molly comforts the distressed Mrs. Pride and wonders if they’re still allowed to live in the house. She asks Mrs. Pride to produce her father’s correspondence with the psychiatric hospital, and she goes up to her room and cries.